From the Pages of the Narrator
by FrauThenardier
Summary: I noticed that we didn't have one of these yet and so thought I'd put one up! Send your questions to the Into the Woods characters and "they" answer!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own. Never have. Never will. Frankly, there's a greater chance of Rapunzel actually listening.

**From the Pages of the Narrator**

OK, so I've noticed a variety of these types of Fanfiction in other categories and realized that there wasn't one here so I thought "why not give it a shot?" So, here we have "From the Pages of the Narrator," the Into the Woods fan letter database. Have any questions you would like to ask anyone from Into the Woods: why the Baker and his Wife wanted a child, the full story behind why Rapunzel is in the tower, where Jack's father isn't back from, or Cinderella's Prince's romantic history, for example? Either review or PM me (whichever works). Direct your question to any character in Into the Woods (Baker, Baker's Wife, Cinderella, The Witch, Jack, Red, etc.) or Mirror and Rose (Beauty, Brina, Puss, the Beast, Chandler, anyone as long as you're not asking me for a spoiler), and "they" will answer.

I look forward to your questions!


	2. Witch 1

**Witch: Why did you want Rapunzel so badly? You could've asked for anything, but you wanted her. **

**-CheshireGirl0913**

CheshireGirl0913-

You are right, I could have asked for anything, yet I chose to ask for my neighbor's unborn child the night he stole my rampion and beans. I told him that if he let me have the baby that his wife would bear, we would call it square. I can honestly say I was being more than reasonable, given the circumstances. Contrary to what many may think, the reason I made this request has little to do with my greens. The reason I asked for the child who would become my Rapunzel was my neighbor himself.

I cannot think why I'm telling you this, but many years before he stole my beans, my neighbor was a young baker living in the village near my house. He had apparently heard all the rumors perpetuated by the villagers about my mother and I, and had doubted they were true. At first I was distant, but eventually he became my one friend in a world that continually blames the witch for its problems. I even, much to my surprise, let myself fall in love with him. He had told me many times that he didn't care what the world thought of me, and we were actually betrothed for a time, when my fiancé began to notice that he was being ostracized by the other villagers. Eventually he abandoned me, leaving me with child. What was I to expect, really? I'm the Witch, they're the World. When I finally gave birth, my child was stillborn. A few years later, adding insult to injury, he brought his young wife and son to the cottage right next door to mine. The woman was pregnant. This, I believe, is what mostly led to my decision to take away their baby. Every day I would go into my garden and over the wall I would see that dimwitted peasant girl with hair as yellow as corn playing with her baby boy, her pregnancy slowing her down, and I would look to the end of my property where under a tree rests a polished stone marking the grave of what would have been my child. I began to wonder, how dare this woman have one healthy child and another on the way when mine sleeps in the ground? Not to mention, I was betrothed to her husband- those children should have been mine! That being said, when I caught my neighbor in my garden one night and he told me he needed the rampion he was stealing to satisfy his pregnant wife's unusual appetite, I could only wonder, where was he when I was carrying his child? Envy, anger, and hurt took over as I listened to him jabber on about the starving state of his precious wife, and soon all I wanted was to hurt the both of them as deeply as I possibly could. I wanted to avenge myself on my former lover; I wanted the child from him that I should have had. Most of all, however, I wanted his thieving wife to feel my pain, and the only way she could understand my misery would be if she were to lose a child herself. So, although I could have taken anything, I took their child when it was born. The theft of my greens really had little to do with the matter. It was a personal revenge, truth be told.

-The Witch

PS: Don't ever never EVER mess around with my greens… especially the beans.


	3. Narrator 1

**Narrator: How did you come to learn the story of these characters? And also, since you did end up getting crushed by the Giantess, how was the story supposed to end? Would it have made any difference if the Witch didn't offer you to her? - CheshireGirl0913**

My Dear CheshireGirl0913,

How kind of you to inquire about my involvement with the story of Into the Woods. Quite often, the objective observer, having always to stay on the outside, goes unnoticed. That someone has chosen to pay tribute to my contribution to this tale… it is truly an honor, I must say.

Now, your first question. How did I come to learn the story of these characters? Well, that is very hard to say. I feel as if they have been with me all my life, truth be told, as if they were always a part of me, along with those who came before them and those to follow. However, the story really became clear to me as an older man. I was sitting one day in my library, poring over my many volumes, when suddenly I came upon an unwritten book. All of a sudden my mind filled with different characters: some from the stories I'd heard as a child, some based upon people around the village where I lived, even some whom I could not recall ever having seen the like of. One by one they came to me: a childless baker and his wife, a fair maiden, a sad young lad, a mysterious man, a beautiful witch turned ugly, a girl in a tower, two lustful princes… I eventually discovered how they all connected and all that will happen to them from my library, and since that day I began to tell their story.

That being said, things took quite a turn when the Witch decided it was best to sacrifice me to the giant in our midst. Although, I was not exactly crushed as much as dropped, Miss. "Crushed" might be a better word to describe what became of that daughter of hers not too long after I met my fate. That being said, had I not been killed, there would have been a few minor differences in the ending of the story. Many innocent people would not have died: for example, the Baker's Wife would have survived, and therefore their child would not have been deprived of its mother and the three other children the Baker would eventually also father would have been hers. That being said, the Baker might not have felt the need to be as protective of his children as he became after his wife's death, which could very well have significantly altered the fates of a Beast living in a castle deep within the Woods and of a cat in boots. Jack's mother might have lived as well, and perhaps even Rapunzel could have been saved. Jack and Little Red Ridinghood would have eventually married, and supported themselves, Jack's mother, Little Red's Granny, and their offspring off of the golden eggs laid by the hen, as well as the milk given by Milky-white. However, not every ending would have been a happy one. Cinderella, for example, the "Moment in the Woods" between her husband and the Baker's Wife having never happened, would be forever trapped in a loveless marriage to a husband who consistently betrayed her and the clutches of a fawning, greedy stepfamily. Rapunzel would fare no better; eventually her husband would run off with a maiden with skin white as snow, leaving her no option but to return, heartbroken, to her mother, taking the twins with her. She would not be imprisoned in a tower again, but it would be a long time before she recovered from the shock of her Prince's betrayal. The Witch, meanwhile, would never regain her powers, and would always have to suffer ordinariness combined with beauty. For the time being, the group would still stop the giantess, but one must wonder, what for? All things considered, the Witch may have had the right idea after all.

I thank you for your question and hope to receive more in the future. Yours,

The Narrator


	4. Rapunzel 1

**Rapunzel: Out of curiosity, did you ever try to talk to your mother, the Witch, about how you wanted to go out? Even with how she acted, and how protective she was, I'm sure if you had talked on more than one occasion, you would have been able to come to some form of a compromise, be it you were allowed out only at certain times, or with her, or something similar to that. –VictoriaXAdam Fan Girl**

Dear VictoriaXAdam Fan Girl,

How kind of you to write me. When one lives in a tower, one never receives mail, so this was quite a nice surprise. I'm so excited!

As a matter of fact, I have broached the subject of my leaving the tower to Mother not only once, but multiple times. I am always telling her how I am not a child, how I wish to see the world, and how lonely I am atop my tower. I try to pretend that our little world is perfect, but in reality I have always wanted to see what the world is like outside my tower. I have actually suggested compromises such as those you listed in your note. However, whenever I tried to bring up the subject of my desire for independence, Mother would always change the subject. Sometimes she'd start fussing over my hair, or my beautiful music, other times she would begin ranting about that horribly annoying Baker that she lives next door to. However she did it, Mother always tried to find a way to divert my attention from thoughts of the outside world. Also, sometimes when I pressed the issue of my growing desire to leave my tower, Mother would lecture me about the evils of the world, and how I could easily be hurt out there and she keeps me in the tower for my own good. She would tell me again and again how no one out there could love me more than she did and that there was nothing out there that she could not easily provide. I felt guilty and tried not to wish that I could get out, but I could never help myself. Even before the tower, I was never allowed outside my mother's wall except on rare occasion. I always dreamed that I would see the world, and always promised myself that someday it would happen. However, I highly doubt that my mother would ever let me out of the tower even with supervision or time restrictions.

Please write to me with any more questions you may have, it's so lonely atop this tower!

-Rapunzel


	5. Witch 2

**Witch,**

**Remember when you were singing that epic song? The Last Midnight? And you threw the beans away and disappeared? WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED? Did you get your powers back? Are you still pretty, or are you ugly again? -Cookie VanDeKamp**

Cookie VanDeKamp-

Thank you for your high opinion of my song. I hope it got my message across to those people. However, given the liars and thieves that they all were, that is sincerely doubtful. They are probably just as deluded as ever, and still blame me for everything that led up to the giantess attack. And that Baker's little demon of a child is probably just as bad as the rest of them. That's provided they survived which, judging by the way they behaved, is not likely.

After I threw away the beans and disappeared, there was a flash of blinding light and sudden darkness as I vanished from the area, away from that bunch. When I got my bearings, I was in a secluded area deep within the woods. Surprisingly, I didn't have claws or a hunch; I still have my youth and beauty. As I looked around the woods to see where I was, I noticed that I was far away from what remained of my house and garden and those ignorant thieves who all played a part in bringing the giantess to our land. I began to wander the woods, looking for a new place to take up residence in. After I had been wandering for quite some time, I came upon a secluded cave attached to a stream flowing through the woods. I currently make my home in this cave. In the stream I planted a special breed of seaweed from seeds I was able to rescue from my garden as a means of protection; the polyps have wiggling, sticky tentacles that grab anything in their path and so keep intruders out of my home. Although I have no garden, I do not need another incident like the little stunt my neighbor pulled years ago. I also now have a host of air spirits in my employ; how I got them is irrelevant. And as to your question as to whether or not I have my powers, I'll need a certain potion to get them back. The ingredients for this potion are even rarer than those used in the one that gave me beauty. Among other ingredients, I need the voice of a mermaid, the hair of a mermaid, and a pair of iron shoes whose soles have been worn to shreds in one month's time. To activate this potion, a curse I have placed must be broken. One again I cannot have touched the ingredients. So, for the time being I am biding my time in the cave until my potion is ready, and until I can exact a little revenge on my poor daughter's deceitful prince.

-The Witch

_Author's note: For more on the present state of the Witch, see Into the Woods II: The Mirror and Rose._


	6. Cinderella 1

**Cinderella,**

**After you dumped the prince, are you still a princess? (I'm guessing not, but it's worth asking, right?) Where are you now? And what became of your stepfamily? –Cookie VanDeKamp**

Dear Cookie VanDeKamp,

Thank you very much for your questions! Forgive me for not responding earlier, but since I left the palace years ago, my life has become considerably busier. As to your question of whether or not I am a princess, no. I am not a princess here or anywhere since the giantess attack. I have largely avoided any contact with my Prince since then, and have thrived.

After we had killed the giantess, Chip (the Baker), Jack, Little Red Ridinghood and I made our way back through the woods to our little village. When we returned to the village, we began to rebuild what was left of Chip's cottage and Jack, Red and I moved in. During this time I would help out around the house. There are times, after all, when I actually enjoy cleaning. Meanwhile, I tried to fill the role of Mother to Red, Jack, and Chip's infant daughter, Beauty; all of whom had lost theirs to the giantess. I knew how they felt, having lost a mother myself, and felt sorry for them, especially poor Beauty, who would never know hers. I knew they would need a loving, supportive maternal figure in their lives, instead of the poor substitute I wound up with. I was also a friend to Chip, who needed someone to talk to who could comfort him in the loss of his wife, having "lost" a husband myself. Our friendly relationship soon grew to love, and two years after the giantess attack Chip and I were married. Three years later, we were blessed with a healthy son who we named Charles after his father, but we call Charlie. A year afterwards, Jack and Red left home, and in the years to follow Chip and I would become parents to another son named Alfred and finally a daughter named Mary.

As for my father, stepmother and stepsisters, I cannot say what became of them, nor, as much as I hate to admit it, do I very much care. Their house was a nightmare, with the abuse I took from Stepmother, the insults bestowed on me by Florinda and Lucinda, and my Father's alcoholism and refusal to acknowledge my plight. My Prince's house, in comparison, was a dream. Now I finally have something in between, and I never thought I could be so happy.

Thank you for your questions, and do not hesitate to write again with any more.

Yours,

Cinderella.


	7. Jack 1

**Jack,**

**You were pretty straightforward throughout the whole thing, but the thing about you I have always wanted to know. How old are you, really? You act like a child, and your mother treats you like a child, but you look to be at least in your teenage years. You also on several occasions tried to convince your mother you were a "man." Are you or are you not? – 4everYoursEmma**

Dear 4everYoursEmma,

Thank you for taking the time to write to me. I'm sorry I couldn't respond to you earlier, as I was quite busy milking Milky-White. It's so hard to believe that not long ago, she was as dry as dust!

Now, I believe you asked me how old I am. As a matter of fact, I am fifteen years old. I, personally, feel that I'm a man now and old enough to be treated like one. However, like you pointed out, my mother does treat me quite like a child, no matter how many times I try to tell her that I'm a man now. It looks as if no matter how old I ever get, I'll always be "a little boy in my mother's eyes," as she likes to say. I'm not sure exactly why she insists on treating me like this, but I do have one idea. You see, years ago my father left home, for what reason I don't remember anymore and my mother does not want to remind me. He never came back. Ever since then, Mother has acted very overprotective of me; always telling me what to do, never listening to anything I have to say, talking about me as if I weren't around and refusing to take me seriously. She also lost her beauty around then and as we became poorer, she became more desperate and ruthless in her fight not to starve. I think that is why I sometimes act a bit like a child- I've never really had a man's experiences, although I've tried to convince Mother I'm ready to give them a try. I don't have much sense because I haven't had much opportunity to develop it- Mother rarely trusts me with anything! As a matter of fact, I'm surprised she sent me out to sell Milky White when it was obvious she thought she'd be able to do a better job of it herself. Even when I finally saved us from poverty with the hen and the gold pieces, she still underestimated me. She probably thought I'd only had a bit of dumb luck. So, I think I am old enough to be a man, but I'm really not one yet. I don't really know how to be, but I know I could learn. Still, things could have been worse; I could have had Rapunzel's mother!

Thank you for your question; I just hope I was able to answer it!

-Jack.


End file.
